Variables
by c1araoswa1d
Summary: Tumblr Whouffle Prompt: The Doctor and Clara find a homeless teenage orphan who is a stow-away on the tardis while on an adventure, and basically end up adopting her. A whouffle relationship implied.
1. Chapter 1

They found her not far from the pool room, standing slightly hunched, as if she'd just experienced something painful, and when she'd glanced up, it was with a shock they both mirrored. She had chestnut hair that hung thick against her back and shoulders; long bangs that framed her pale face and accentuated the large dark eyes that stared at them as her thin lips opened to accommodate her terrified breaths.

The Doctor stepped forward first, right hand outstretched and an awkward smile on his face as she took a step back and glanced at a panel on the wall, a panel the Doctor eyed before giving her a nod. "It's alright, you're not in any trouble – this place is safe."

Clara stepped quietly to his side to assure with an easy smile, "Hey_, it's ok_ – what's your name?"

Looking from one adult to the other, the girl laughed and then she lifted a hand to cover her mouth, embarrassed by the outburst before telling them quietly, "Sorry, _sorry_, I just…" her words trailed and her lips pushed together as her eyes watered, "I'm a bit lost."

Moving past the Doctor, Clara enveloped the girl in a hug as he grimaced because the Doctor knew the girl shouldn't have been in the ship and it was in his nature to question what she'd been doing; why she'd been looking at the panel on the wall; why she'd been bent in pain. But Clara's heart overruled his mind and he waited patiently as the woman soothed the girl that stood at her height and had laid her head on her shoulder, arms around her back tightly as she cried.

"Clara, we need to get back to the control room," the Doctor told her softly, bowing his head as he heard her say, _the Doctor will get you home; he'll keep you safe, don't worry_.

Turning to look at him, her own eyes now reddened in sympathy, Clara smiled and offered, "I'll take her for a bath, you get the ship stabilized."

He watched them depart, Clara's arm draped over the girl's shoulder as the girl continued to clutch at the back of her dress. To him it was disconcerting, the attachment, and the Doctor was already pondering whether she'd been sent to sabotage them – it wouldn't be the first time. And if that were true, he was about to leave Clara alone with her. Taking a small step forward, hands balling into frustrated fists at his side, he turned when he felt the engines roar through the mess of concrete and metal beneath his feet.

With a growl, he rushed onto the console space and slapped his palm on a lever and twisted a knob until his knuckles were white from his grip. He glanced towards the corridor entrance and then back at the screen, tapping at it to erase the notice that warned someone else was aboard. The warning that had taken him and Clara from steering the Tardis through the vortex to figuring out how, exactly, a third person had boarded without them knowing.

The Doctor couldn't shake the notion that she'd suddenly… _appeared_.

Of course, there were at least a dozen explanations. If she'd been encased in adamantium, if she'd been wearing any sort of signal distortion equipment, if she'd been on the verge of death… _somehow_. There was no way she could just _appear_ inside of the Tardis, he snorted. It was like apparating in Hogwarts, there were measures in place to prevent it. With a small smile at the notion that he had to give those novels another read, he steadied the ship in space and set it drifting as he moved quickly back to the spot they'd found her and he glanced down into the crevice beside the flooring, passing his Sonic over it to try and detect any sort of device she might have dropped.

Checking the Sonic and seeing a null reply, he stood and looked to the piping in the wall, knowing it housed some of the wiring of the Tardis and he scanned it for any sort of malfunctions, any sort of tampering, and he frowned when, again, the results were null. Everything was exactly as it should be, he knew. Except _it wasn't_. He moved slowly down the hall and around a corner, hearing the shower running inside of Clara's bedroom and peering inside the room to find her bringing one of her dresses to the bed. She gave him a worried smile as he looked to the bathroom, door cracked open, small trickle of steam escaping as the girl inside showered.

"Her name is Celia," Clara offered. "She's an orphan; says she came on to get out from the cold."

He rubbed at his face, "Saw that it was a never ending ship instead of a quaint little blue box…"

"And went exploring," she finished in a hushed whisper before shrugging, "Just have to find out where…"

"… and when," he pointed.

She smiled before continuing, "She came from and we can return her." Then she eyed him, "Maybe after a few days."

He frowned, "Clara, we can't just pick up strays along the way…"

With a wry smile, she asked, "Isn't that what we do though?"

He pocketed the Sonic and gestured at the dress, "Shouldn't you be looking for jammies? The girl did look exhausted – thought maybe a nice long nap would do her better than a trip to the moon."

"You promised me cocktails," Clara pointed out with a nod of her head, then she shrugged back to the bathroom, "Besides, it might be good to get some food in her first – she's bone thin."

Sighing, the Doctor stepped to Clara's side to whisper, "Or we could simply return her."

"_Where_?"

"We'll _ask_ her," he said simply.

Glancing back, brow wrinkling with concern, Clara whispered, "I don't think she wants to go back."

Chewing his lip, the Doctor considered the words; considered the reasons behind why a young girl of around thirteen might not want to go home, and he could see in Clara's eyes that while she didn't have the answer, she had enough worry about what the answer _was_ for the both of them. He smiled as he reached up to cup her cheek, knowing it was the maternal side of her kicking in, as it often did, wanting to ensure the girl was happy and taken care of.

"A few days," he offered, watching her forehead smooth and sensing the tension ease from her body, "A few days, but Clara, we have to take her back." Then he added, "At the very least, an Earthly children's home – your time, she'll be safe there."

Satisfied grin breaking out on her face as the Doctor blushed, Clara stepped up to peck him on the cheek before drifting to the bathroom door to supply, "Come on, kiddo, hurry up. _We're going dancing_!"


	2. Chapter 2

A few days easily became a few weeks and the Doctor was still frustrated he didn't know much more about the girl who'd mysteriously shown up on his ship two weeks later than he had on the night they found her. She was standing between himself and Clara, dark eyes wide as saucers while Clara shouted at him to Sonic the oversized robot charging towards them.

"Doctor," Celia screamed and he could see her turn, burying herself in Clara's waiting arms and something about them relying on him made the adrenaline rush through his veins in a way that made him lose his breath.

Raising the Sonic, he shifted the settings and extended the end, wincing as it burned a brilliant green, buzz deafening in the closed corridor they were trapped in. The robot sizzled and began to pop and its legs faltered, sending it clattering to the ground in a mess of clangs and screeches before it groaned to a stop a few feet away. The Doctor kept his Sonic trained on the beast, scanning it for signs of life and turning to nod to Clara when his readings returned nothing more than a disabled bot.

He watched her nudge Celia, whispering quietly, "It's alright. Sweetheart, it's fine. You're safe," as he crept over the metal limbs and found a panel at the robot's back, opening it to scan the insides so he could study the schematics from the safety of the Tardis. Because he knew that's where Clara would want to go. Keep Celia safe because she would say their adventure had gone too far – further than either one of them had anticipated when they'd stepped out with Celia into the metal city.

"_What do you think_?" The Doctor had asked Celia with a proud lifting of his chin.

"_It's brilliant_, _D-Doctor_," she'd laughed, cheeks going crimson over her shy stutter as she reached out to take his hand so he could lead her.

Now they made their way back to the blue box concealed in an alleyway and he waited on the console while Clara took Celia to her room to mend the scratches and burns to her right arm, sustained trying to get away from the very robot the Doctor had just disabled. He frowned as he looked over the plans and turned when he felt Clara coming up behind him, frown darkening her face.

"What?" The Doctor asked roughly.

She shrugged, then spat, "Dunno, thought you could maybe check out a planet every once in a while before we arrive, charging in head first; make sure there aren't any killer robots lingering in the shadows."

Giving her a frustrated pout, he responded harshly, "I can't predict the dangers we'll find on a planet, Clara, no more than you could!"

Shaking her head, she met his eyes and he could see anger in them as she replied quickly, "I know," then she repeated on a sigh as her features softened, "I know, Doctor – _I do_." Clara pressed her palms to the edge of the console and she told him quietly, "I'm sorry."

Glancing sideways at her, he took a long breath and turned his face to the ceiling as he challenged, "She's too young to travel with us. This is why children aboard the Tardis: bad idea. We're too concerned with her welfare and not concerned enough with the enemies." The Doctor shook his head and told her, "We're being forced to _walk away_ to keep her safe."

He could feel her shift away from him, frowned at the cool breeze now chilling his left arm, and then met the sad expression on her face with a shaking of his head. "Doctor, she's…" Clara began slowly before stepping back up beside him again with a nod, "I know what you're thinking."

Giving her an almost imperceptible nod, he allowed, "You're becoming attached and I can tell you from experience: it's a very dangerous thing." He turned to lean against the console, arms crossing at his chest, one hand fluttering up momentarily as he passed a look to the corridor and explained, "I take on companions and yes, very often their lives are in danger, but as adults they're capable of making the decision to stay or go…"

"Are we?" Clara interrupted.

He shifted to look at the way her brow rose slightly as she smiled.

"Infatuated with this lifestyle; unconsciously concerned for your well being knowing you're stubborn and foolish and the combination is often the catalyst for the very danger you try to avoid… are we really capable of deciding when to _leave you on your own_?"

Lips crushing together, he offered, "You could leave, right now." He pointed, "Take Celia with you, make sure she has a nice safe life back on Earth – adopt her if you chose; live a life, Clara."

She only laughed, turning away while muttering, "You really _don't_ understand," as she made her way through the door and into the corridor to her right.

The Doctor knew where she was off to and he sighed, flipping a switch and bending to examine an exposed wire, flinching when he heard the tap of two feet coming onto the console and he smiled, turning because he imagined it would be Clara and he was surprised to find Celia holding onto the railing along the outer edge of the console space, look of contemplation frozen on her young face.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked her, looking over the white bandages that circled her arm as she moved towards the panel set against the railing, fingers trailing lightly over the lights there, avoiding his gaze. He sighed, "How much did you hear?"

Celia shrugged, keeping her eyes trained on the ground as she supplied, "Clara's right, you know."

"Howso?" He questioned curiously, watching her. She spent most of her time with Clara and he'd rarely gotten the opportunity to talk with her one-on-one.

"It's not really a companion's decision to leave – or at least it's not an easy decision," she offered, left hand rising to tuck her long hair behind her ear and the motion unnerved him for some reason he couldn't quite put a finger on, watching her lift her jaw in his direction, one thick eyebrow arching upward as she declared, "She's in love with you, you know."

"Clara?" He questioned, turning fully to press his backside against the machine behind him as he watched her fiddle with the buttons at her side. She gave him a knowing look and he nodded, "You're saying how they feel about me – our friendships – make it hard for them to leave."

Narrowing her eyes at him, Celia teased, "Friendship, is that what you call it – the way you watch her when she's not looking…"

He bowed his head, smiling, as she released a small giggle. A giggle that made him look up quickly, seeing the way she tilted her body towards the controls and then spun against them to lean against them and cross her arms at her chest. They both stood that way for a moment, staring at one another, an odd understanding exchanged in identical smirks.


	3. Chapter 3

"But it's not fair," Celia argued, "I can't stay in the Tardis all of the time!"

Two weeks had become two months in the blink of an eye and the Doctor and Clara stood just outside of the blue doors looking in on the girl who planted her hands at her waist, head held defiantly upwards in a slant as she stared out at them. The look of frustration on her face made it hard to keep a straight face, but the duo maintained their stance, watching her until she finally dropped her hands away and sulked back onto the console as the Tardis swung its own doors shut.

"It really isn't fair," Clara asserted as they walked out onto the street, "Your own granddaughter wasn't much older than her when you took her on adventures."

Pointing back, the Doctor grumbled, "_She's not my granddaughter_ – and I thought we'd agreed on this; thought we'd decided, as a team, that if things looked to be getting mucked up. _Level five mucked up_. Celia was to remain on the Tardis." He swung his finger back, "You made up the levels; _you made the rules_. I'm merely adhering to them."

Releasing a sigh as she nodded, Clara stopped and turned, watching him do the same. A showdown of sorts before she lifted one eyebrow and tilted her head back in the direction of the Tardis, "You know, she might as well be your granddaughter." Closing her eyes, she shouted, "Celia, you're not quite as stealthy as you think you are."

"How did you even hear me?" The girl spat, twisting out from behind a garbage bin to stare at the woman who now glared at her angrily. "And what's this nonsense about levels and rules." The girl pouted as she approached them, head hunching slightly at Clara, brow coming down angrily over her eyes as she added, "I consider myself emancipated – no parents; no rules. Free to do as I'd like and I'd like to help."

The Doctor flipped his Sonic in his hand and pointed it back at the Tardis and they all heard the cloister bell dong just before both adults pointed. Celia huffed a breath before turning and walking angrily towards the doors they all knew were open and waiting. After a moment, the Doctor held the Sonic up and gave the doors another blast. He shifted his jaw as he stared at Clara and he watched her grin. "It's not funny," he muttered.

"Oh, it's funny."

Beginning to walk, the Doctor spat, "And what's so funny about it."

"Celia, she's so perfectly what you need. _A taste of your own medicine_." Clara laughed when his mouth dropped open in shock. "She's defiant, sneaky, a complete smart arse…"

He interrupted with a roll of his head towards her to say, "Oh, that's completely you though, isn't it? Gives me lip and then that smirk – do you go to _school_ for that smirk? Is there some class they pull some of you aside for? Like you've got to earn certain marks on a facial expression aptitude test and then they teach you the condescending smirk?"

Her lips curled upward and he growled, turning back to the road.

"You know, maybe she's exactly what we both needed," Clara offered with a light chuckle.

The Doctor stopped and turned, asking quietly, "What did you just say?"

"Just that she's very similar to us," she slowed her words as she saw the Doctor staring, "And maybe she's exactly what we both needed."

He raised his head and then looked back in the direction of the Tardis with a curious look before feeling her eyes boring into him for an explanation and he sighed, "A Tenza."

Narrowing her eyes, Clara asked, "Like one of those giant electricity orbs at the science museum?"

Considering it a second, he shook his head and winced as his hands came up manically, "No, no, not a Plasma globe – incidentally sort of invented by a Nikola Tesla – similar enough name, word, I suppose, to mix up, but no. A Tenza is an empathic race of aliens floating out in the universe looking for homes. They latch onto telepathic thought, strong wishes, hopes, dreams and they fulfill them using perception filters hoping to find a…" he went silent, looking back to Clara.

"A what, Doctor?" She demanded.

After a gulp, he replied, "A family."

Clara watched him, her lips pursing painfully before she spat, "You're saying she's an alien."

He shrugged, "Well, simply put…. Yes."

"An alien who went looking for a family and latched onto… _us_?"

The Doctor pressed one hand to his waist and stepped closer to her, leaning down to ask, "Clara, have you been thinking about having children?"

She jerked away, uttering hastily, "N-not with you."

He brought a hand to his face, seemingly to cover frustration, but Clara caught the glimpse of disappointment before he turned away, hand falling at his side. The Doctor took several steps towards the Tardis before hearing her begin to call him, her voice cutting off, and when he turned, she was watching him curiously and he asked quietly, "What is it?"

"Have _you_?" Clara managed.

"Have I what?" He asked.

"Have you, Doctor, thought about having children?"

"No," he lied, shifting sideways, "We have to get to the Tardis then, get her sorted out – the last time a Tenza child thought they were being rejected by their surrogates in my company, I ended up miniaturized in a doll house and I don't intend to find out what Celia thinks is a good punishment for…"

"You _have_," Clara interrupted.

Glancing back, the Doctor watched her swallow roughly before she nodded at him, waiting and he knew there would be no way of hiding behind a lie, so he nodded, "On occasion, I do think about children, Clara." He smiled, "I was a father, a grandfather, so yes, I might have been thinking about having children."

She moved closer and asserted, "Then we have to go talk to her." Then she questioned, "Does she know; it doesn't seem like she knows. And she's full grown, says she's almost fourteen, is that how it works?"

The Doctor waited for her to join him to shrug, "I'm not really sure how it works – the previous Tenza I saw came to his parents as an infant, but there's no reason another could have come older." He smiled down at her, "We've got Angie and Artie roaming about in our lives; it's possible it latched onto their ages as a model."

Clara grinned as they headed back to the Tardis, stepping inside to find Celia sitting at the console, turning to give them both a slanted smile as she questioned, "Changed your minds?" With a nod, she asked, "Can I come with you?"

They exchanged a glance, one that understood there was a lot to be discussed. A lot to be worked out. A lot to be decided. Clara's chin dipped slightly and he could see the small bit of appreciation in the imperceptible nod, the answer to the unspoken question in his eyes: would you _even be willing_ to raise a child with me? He smirked, watching her cheeks blush and he turned to find Celia sighing at them, a knowing smile of her own.

Lifting his hands towards her, the Doctor called, "Why not."


	4. Chapter 4

Despite their conclusion that Celia must be a Tenza child, the Doctor had his doubts. She was simply too… he considered it a moment, trying to find the right word before settling on… _individual_. Celia didn't simply fit perfectly into their lives the way he would have expected. He expected she would adapt – she would inherently understand the Tardis, she would make the perfect soufflé, she would fall into their witty banter – but instead she developed separate from them.

_Too individual_, he thought again in frustration.

He watched her chatting with Clara across from him on the console, seeing Celia's arms flap up and slap down before she raised a bent hand to cover a giggle as Clara responded with something they both found utterly amusing. She had a few of her mannerisms, he knew; Celia had a few of his as well, he found. But where he expected her to be clever and bold, she shied away from them, she withdrew, she acted exactly as she purported herself to be – _a little lost_.

The more he thought about her behavior, the more he doubted both his assertion she was a Tenza – something Clara seemed more than willing to accept – and his previous assumptions she must be some sort of plant… and began to wonder whether she truly was exactly what she said. An orphan who wandered onto the Tardis to escape the cold and, through some hiccup in the Tardis system, was simply rendered invisible to the sensors.

Or, _more curiously_, the Tardis helped disguise her.

"If you're done with your girl talk," the Doctor shouted, "I could use some help up here."

They turned, Celia offering quietly, "Think I'll go off to the room – teacher here's assigned me enough homework I might need a _time machine_ to get around to it all."

Clara feigned a laugh and she moved towards the Doctor as Celia gave a hop off the platform and began to walk towards her room. Turning to look at the Doctor, Clara asked quietly, "What is it?" He smiled as she touched his arm and continued, "I know something's bothering you – it's right there in that look you're not giving me."

Shifting to glance at her, he warmed slightly when she tucked her hand into his, gripping it firmly as he sighed, "Sometimes I don't know whether to be relieved or alarmed that you can see what is and what _isn't_."

"Oh," she started with a tilt of her head, "Definitely be alarmed."

"Am I that predictable?" He asked quietly.

With a look back to the hall, Clara responded, "You're concerned about Celia, you're thinking that you're wrong about her and it's making you nervous," she glanced back, finding him shifted closer to her as his thumb rubbed over the back of her hand, "You don't know what to make of her." She watched him nod, offering a quick smile before staring down at their hands. "You felt that way about me once."

He smiled again.

Clara ducked her head slightly, catching his eyes and she grinned, "Doctor, you called me _impossible_ and I was just a normal girl – just like Celia's a normal girl." With a shake of her head, she added, "Don't put your relationship with her on hold because you're afraid to accept that maybe she is just what she says she is."

The Doctor nodded slowly and his hand slipped away as Clara frowned. "I'm _afraid_," he admitted on a breath, watching the worry seep into her eyes and he knew she didn't understand. He moved away from her, dropping into the closest chair and he wrapped one palm around the other fist, offering her a weak smile as he elaborated, "It's not that I'm afraid of _what_ she is – I know that she's just a girl, Clara – I'm afraid of _what she represents_, of what _will happen_… to her for travelling with us; to you for loving her the way you do." He dropped his chin to laugh, "I can sense it, Clara, just how much you've let her into your heart and I can't…" he trailed, eyes watering slightly, "I can't afford the sentiment."

"Because she'll die," Clara stated, hand coming up to settle on the console.

"She'll die," he repeated, "Or she'll _live_," his said with a laugh, "But not on the Tardis. This isn't a place for children. This isn't a place for family and she deserves that." He met her eye as his mouth opened slightly to speak again, and while the words remained locked away, Clara heard them anyways.

_You deserve that_.

Nodding slowly, Clara approached him and she laid her palms at his cheeks, smiling when he finally looked up at her and Clara bent, delicately brushing her lips against his before settling them there a moment. It wasn't their usual kiss, the casual friendly flirtation with something more, tucked into the meeting of her mouth just at the edge of his; it was an assertive expression of empathy and comfort that Clara repeated, this time holding herself against him until his hands met her waist with understanding.

Sighing, Clara tilted her head slightly and she felt his fingers grip as they tentatively tasted one another, a trifecta of hearts hammering between them at the knowledge that this should be forbidden, and yet, felt natural enough that when the Doctor pulled her into his lap, she didn't resist, merely wrapped her arms around his neck as his circled her, keeping her securely against him. The Doctor moved with her, an odd swell of belonging tingling his body as her fingers teased the hair at the base of his skull and he wanted to tell her, then and there, that he _had_ been thinking about children when she'd asked a few weeks before.

He thought about them often.

But never any random children. Never the children of a planet they'd visited, or the ones they watched on playgrounds when they happened upon them and took a quick flight on the swings. The Doctor thought about _specific_ children. He thought about his own children; he thought about the children on Gallifrey. And he thought about the children he could have with her. The Doctor imagined they'd be clumsy and brilliant and loving. They'd be handfuls, rambunctious and constantly in trouble.

_They'd be in danger_.

Slipping back from her, his forehead dropped against her chin and she shifted back to kiss it, sniffling lightly because she understood the hesitation and it stung her heart. Somehow she knew, without him telling her, and Clara knew he would deny himself the daydreams; he would deny himself the actuality of what he wanted because it would be putting her life on the line. And that was what Celia _represented_.

A surrogate daughter he'd already imagined dead from a Dalek's laser, encased in a Cyberman suit, killed for a Zygon's persuit, tortured by some enemy they'd yet to come across. Celia was the daughter he knew they should never have and the thought – the thought made so much more real by the weight of Clara in his lap and knowing he could, at that moment, choose to throw caution to the wind and chance it – was one that took his breath away because he'd been denying himself the opportunity to let it do more than fester in the back of his mind.

But Clara, he knew, had hope when he had none; she was the full half of the glass to his emptiness, and she merely chuckled as she shifted back and told him firmly, "Doctor, you deserve that as well."

Just outside of the entrance to the console, Celia pressed her back to the cold metal, tattered book held tightly in her right hand, question in her mind erased upon seeing them. They were close when she'd arrived, she could sense it, but in the months she'd been with them, she'd felt them growing closer and she knew – there'd be no place for her in their lives very soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Clara watched the girl who was studying the assortment of food in a vending machine, hands clasped behind her back, body hunched forward, hair pulled up in a sloppy pony tail that left her long bangs hanging in a flop over her right eye. Her head shifted to unblock her line of sight and then Celia lifted a hand to tuck the hair behind her ear. Clara moved closer to her, one quick check on the Doctor talking to a street vendor to make sure he was nearby before nudging the girl.

"Anything interesting?"

Lips skewing to the right, Celia shook her head.

"You've been awful quiet lately, few weeks now actually," Clara offered, waiting for the guilty look she received.

"Sorry," Celia began, straightening, "Rule one and all."

Clara considered her and asked, "The Doctor lies?"

That earned her a quick laugh before Celia shook her head and responded, "Don't wander off."

"You're not wandering off," Clara assured, "You're just being incredibly quiet. Starting to worry, honestly."

The girl sighed and nodded, then admitted, "I thought maybe it would be good if I faded into the background a bit; maybe if you didn't notice me as much you wouldn't _worry_ so much."

Turning her gently by the shoulder, Clara reached out to take her other shoulder and she lowered her head slightly, telling her truthfully, "Celia, we're never _not_ going to worry about you, _you're thirteen_, and I kind of miss your voice. I _like_ your voice." She smirked and watched as Celia chuckled shyly. "What's wrong?" Clara asked her gently, hands dropping off her shoulders so she could clutch them together nervously in front of her and she glanced down to see Celia doing the same.

"You," Celia began with a nod, "And the Doctor," she added slowly before taking a breath. "You're together." With a laugh, Clara nodded, but Celia shook her head, "No, you're _together_ together."

Straightening, Clara opened her mouth in silent shock, but the girl's hands came up to stop her.

"No, _I didn't see_, I mean, I… oh God," she turned away when she saw the relief on Clara's face and she spat in frustration, "Oh my God, you're having sex _already_?!"

Clara tugged her away from the now prying eyes of others in the market and she found the Doctor still haggling with a shop keeper about a set of socks, oblivious to her and Celia. "When I said you'd been quiet, I didn't mean you should make a scene to make up for it," Clara growled.

Looking distraught, Celia muttered, "I'm sorry."

Eyes closed, Clara reached out and gave Celia's arms a quick squeeze, "The Doctor and I have," she shrugged, looking away a moment before allowing, "Um, we've had sex, yes, but, well…" she watched Celia's grimace before she mirrored it to ask, "Do you have questions?"

"_About your sex life_?" she shrieked as Clara hissed and waved her arm slightly, indicating to keep her voice down, and Celia rambled in shock, "God no, _you're my mum and dad_, I don't want to know about any of that."

Clara glanced at a passing couple before turning back, a small grin on her face as she repeated, "Mum and dad?"

Shrugging, Celia told her quietly, "Well, that's kind of what you are, isn't it?"

"Thought you said you were emancipated – no parents; no rules."

With an eyeroll and a sigh, Celia glanced at the wall beside her and muttered, "I'm thirteen. I can't emancipate myself, that would be ridiculous."

"Celia, is that why you came aboard the Tardis?" Clara asked her outright out of curiosity and she watched the way the girl avoided her eyes. "You were looking for parents?"

When she turned back to meet Clara's gaze, her eyes were shimmering and she turned away when she blinked, quickly reaching up to swipe at the tears that fell as she nodded slowly, admitting, "I was looking for my parents… I was looking for people who could be my parents." She smiled sadly. "And you, you and the Doctor…" Her lips trembled and she closed her mouth to try and stop them and Clara found herself doing the same.

The Tardis wasn't some random spot she'd chosen to get out from the cold; a story she'd maintained for months. The Tardis was a specifically chosen oddity she'd seen two people come out from – two people she'd probably watched; two people she'd probably followed; two people she'd specifically chosen – and she'd gone inside to find the warmth that didn't come from fire or a building, but from the love of parents.

Clara reached out for her, pulled her into a tight hug the same way she'd done the first time they'd met and she felt Celia release a sob that shook her body. She glanced up when she saw the Doctor standing in front of them, an odd pair of socks held in his right hand as he looked the pair of them over and locked eyes with Clara before whispering, "Celia, I thought you might like these."

Lifting her head, she glanced sideways at the deep purple socks with the small etched flowers and she laughed, taking them when he offered them and whispering, "They're like that one bowtie you wear."

He bowed his head, "You always smile when I wear that one. In hindsight, you probably just think it's the most ridiculous one I own and it's not a smile of admiration, but of condescending mockery."

She shook her head, "No, no, I love the flowers."

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly.

Celia nodded and stepped forward, her arms coming up around his midsection and he landed his own arms around her shoulders, glancing up at Clara and seeing her crooked smile, the one fighting tears over something he wasn't yet privy to. Something detailed quietly, later on the Tardis, as Clara lay at his side; head snuggled against his shoulder, thumb slowly stroking the same spot on his stomach over and over.

"Half right then," the Doctor sighed, watching her shift to glance up at him, "She was looking for a family."

"And she found us," Clara told him with a shy grin before turning and kicking up the sheets so she could climb atop him as he fumbled anxiously, nervous uptick of his lips while his hands found her thighs as she stripped herself of her nightgown, bending to catch his lips. Planting her hands on either side of his head, Clara smiled down deviously at his flushed lips and his sleepy eyes and she called, "What's daddy in the mood for tonight?"

Head shrugging awkwardly against the pillow, he stumbled over, "I suppose the correct answer would be _a little mummy_, but somehow, Clara, that sounds a bit odd, don't you…" she trapped the words between their lips and the small muted laughter she released.


	6. Chapter 6

Celia frowned when the dizziness hit her, glancing up as Clara entered the room and began chatting away. The woman was telling her she had to wear a jacket because they were headed to a planet the Doctor said would be frigid and she didn't want the girl catching her death of a cold. It wasn't an intense dizziness, just enough to stop her concentration before she shook it away and caught the last half of a sentence Clara uttered as she left.

"…have to change, this dress is simply too tight – might actually need a pair of trousers."

She looked to the outfit laid out on the foot of the bed and she jumped when Clara swung back into the room on the edge of the doorway with a bright smile and a nod of her head. "I know," Celia muttered, throwing back her sheets, "Up, up and dressed and ready to go." She tossed a fist into the air to feign excitement before chuckling as Clara moved to the bed and kissed her sloppily on the forehead.

"Come on, kiddo," she urged, giving her knee a light slap before bounding out of the room.

She couldn't quite figure out why the woman seemed to be on a constant surge of energy lately, while she was exhausted, as if someone had tapped into her own reserves. For a moment she considered they might have encountered some weird energy swapping bug and Clara was sapping the life out of her. With a quiet laugh to herself, she quickly dressed and readied herself before going to the console where the Doctor was happily gearing up for his pre-planet landing speech.

Celia loved his speeches. The long-winded poetry that seemed to flow effortlessly from his lips worked to set her mind ablaze with possibilities she'd never considered. He usually gave them one just before landing and eventually there was the second – some sad but hopeful reminder that there was good in the universe. Good that outweighed the effects of whatever travesty they'd just helped stop. Because, Celia found, there was always some horrible thing happening that never went unnoticed by the man they travelled with.

She imagined if he'd had a speech for her parents, maybe they would have seen the benefits in keeping her and the notion made her frown as they stepped into the snow. She brought the hood of her coat up a moment before her first tear slipped over her cheek and she knew Clara had seen it. The gloved hand that found hers squeezed tight and Celia rubbed at her face with her free hand before turning to give her a smile because despite it all, with them now, she was happy.

"Apaxia Seven!" The Doctor bellowed, smoke drifting out of his mouth as he laughed, "Isn't it exciting? _Well_… it was exciting," he checked his watch before turning back to them, face grimaced against the snowflakes smacking his skin as they laughed, "Maybe a millennia ago – now it's mostly barren, so this is mostly archeological as I've missed the mark on our landing by a few decades of interest."

Celia watched the Doctor's body fully turn, his eyes focused on the woman at her side and when she glanced to her, he could see the look of discomfort on her face just before she turned and ran back towards the Tardis, bursting through the doors and leaving them standing together in the snow.

"Was it something I said?" The Doctor asked, pocketing his Sonic and looking to Celia.

She laughed, quietly, and then looked out over the mountains, "I'm sure she just forgot something – what was this place before? Why is it empty now, Doctor?"

His grin returned, sheepishly, and then proudly, and he swung around to drop an arm over Celia's shoulder, hands panning out over the landscape to tell her, "Imagine a people covered in white fur, living peacefully. Like humans evolved from primates, the primates of this planet evolved into a humanoid being, but without the need for violence or greed or any of the darker sides of humanity."

"Probably too cold to do anything but snuggle," Celia snorted.

"Oi," he snapped.

She smirked, "Exposition, right."

But he turned, "Do you think Clara's alright?"

"She's fine, I'm sure she's fine, Doctor – just looked a bit s…" her word caught in her mouth, a small puff of smoke lingering in front of her like a stain her thought had left on the air.

When the Tardis doors opened again, they both shifted to look at Clara, ungloved hand coming off the door to land atop the fluff of coat at her stomach. She smiled, but there was a sadness in her eyes the Doctor responded to, making his way to her side to whisper quietly, "Clara? What's wrong?"

She offered a light laugh and shook her head, looking out towards Celia and then past her towards the mountains and the snowy world around them, "So we take the Tardis back, yeah, back to when this place was hopping?"

The Doctor smiled, keeping his eye on her as she swallowed hard and her eyes glazed over from the words she was withholding from him, words he desperately wanted to hear because he had a notion that set his hearts drumming quickly within his chest as he agreed, "Yeah, sure, back a few to when we could meet my old friend, Jasper."

They returned to the Tardis slowly, Clara taking the few tentative steps back and through the doors and she could feel Celia at her side, hand coming up to help keep her steady as they made their way onto the console. The Doctor was last, hands wrapping around one another before he swung his screen around and immediately began typing, watching Clara as he shifted them back in time and they all remained silent when the Tardis landed. An awkward acknowledgement that there was an elephant in the room Clara wasn't talking about and the pair at either side of her weren't going to push.

Because they were both clever enough to know.

Celia rushed towards the door and stopped suddenly, hand reaching out to take hold of the railing at her side because everything around her did a 360. When she turned back, the Doctor's eyes were trained on her. She smiled casually and shouted, "Well, come on!"

Gaze drifting to the woman now smiling, eyes closed, as she leaned against the Tardis, the Doctor watched Clara as she slowly looked to the girl and then confidently walked towards her, a small smirk reserved for when she glanced back at him. A small smirk in which he understood that everything was just fine; a small smirk that forgave him for the scan he's performed without her asking.

"Be out in a mo," he told the girls, seeing Celia reach out to take Clara's hand to urge her out where he heard a set of playful grunts from a species he knew wouldn't do either of them harm. He turned back to the screen and tapped at it, bowing his head to sigh as he flicked the monitor off with one last look at the word blinking on the screen.

_Pregnant_.


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor knelt in front of Clara, listening to her small giggle as his hands came up to caress the now noticeable bump of her bare stomach, one he tentatively asked to see each evening just before Clara went to sleep. His smile was instant as he asked, "Can you feel the baby move yet?"

"You ask me every day," Clara laughed, "Not yet," she told him gently, fingers shifting the hair off his forehead as he leaned on her lap and pressed a kiss to the skin just underneath her belly button before lifting up to kiss her lips. "Off to repair something?"

He smiled, "You'll have company," and he turned to call, "Celia?"

Rolling around the doorframe, Celia twisted her lips in an awkward grin as she watched Clara smile hopefully up at her and she beckoned her closer, waiting until the girl was seated beside her on the bed and the Doctor had left the room to ask, "Are you alright?" Clara cupped her cheek in her right palm and watched the way Celia nervously glanced at Clara's stomach.

With a shrug, Celia responded, "Yeah, fine."

Hand dropping away, Clara buttoned the bottom few buttons of her top and shook her head, "Celia, you don't have to tell me, but I know something's wrong." She glanced up, "Is it the baby?" She asked because the girl seemed to have been avoiding her since their trip to Apaxia Five and it had gotten worse since they'd officially told her a week later, "_You're going to be a big sister_."

Clara looked up to see the conflicted frown on Celia's lips, one that occasionally tugged up, and then she asked quietly, "Are you going to keep her?"

She stared at her a moment, trying to figure out where the question had come from, before quietly telling her with a nod, "Yes, Celia, we're going to keep the baby."

Jaw clenching tightly, Celia nodded and Clara got the impression she wasn't going to say anything else as her eyes drifted to the ground and her hands clasped over her knees anxiously. Clara sighed, looking her over and she felt like maybe she understood. They'd just started getting into their own routine with Celia – an odd little family travelling through the stars – and now they were going to have a baby of their own. Did the girl really feel like she'd be replaced? Like they'd drop her off at some orphanage to be forgotten again?

"You know we love you, don't you?" Clara asked her quickly.

She jerked, head giving a shake and the girl's natural smile beamed across her blushing face as she replied, "Yeah, of course I do." She met Clara's gaze and nodded, "I do. I know."

Clara took Celia's hand in hers tightly and she assured, "You're not going anywhere."

Standing, she held out a hand that Celia took and she walked the girl back to her room, lifting the covers and urging her into them before kneeling next to the bed to push the hair out of her face and smile down at her. Sometimes it was hard to believe they'd had her for six months. It seemed like they'd been all over the galaxy with her and as she watched the smile that brought her thin lips up, she released a breath of a laugh because she couldn't help but think: it was the Doctor's grin.

Tenza or not, Celia did seem to be as close as Clara could imagine her own daughter with the Doctor would be and she found herself trying to picture the girl as a child, as an infant. The wide dark eyes staring up at her holding a sloppily made mother's day card; the shy giggle escaping a toddler running into the Doctor's outstretched arms; the sad pout on a chubby baby's face upon hearing a strange sound. Clara leaned into the side of the bed, feeling the bump of her stomach pressed gently against the edge staring down at Celia as she looked her over.

Always with the same longing look in her eyes – as if maybe she were imagining the same in reverse. Clara hadn't thought about it before, about how Celia would have imagined growing up with them, instead of at a children's home. How she'd envisioned Clara scooping her up into her arms after a nightmare, or the Doctor brushing off her knees after a fall on the playground, or how both of them would ramble on between each other as she walked between them.

"I wish I could give you those days," Clara told her quietly, stroking her hair back and watching her blush at being caught, and Clara knew she'd been right in assuming what the girl was thinking.

She frowned then, because she knew it wasn't that Celia needed a mum and dad who loved her. Somehow she'd convinced herself that Celia's parents had. That they'd loved her so much they'd given her up with the hopes that she'd have a better life without them. Clara knew all too well how easily that situation could come up. Parents too young, parents too poor, parents with too much on their hands already knowing the girl would be better off with… _better parents_. And then she thought about Celia's question before – _are you going to keep her _– and she suddenly understood; Clara and the Doctor had already had arguments over Celia. They still did on occasion.

The Doctor had already told her how dangerous having a family – a child – was aboard the Tardis. And she'd seen it in his eyes then, how much he longed for it, and yet denied it for himself because he would never put an innocent child in danger. Sometimes he still had doubts keeping Celia had been the right thing to do. Those times when they'd cut it close… too close.

It wasn't that they didn't love her; it was the question of whether it was good for her.

Clara knew that somewhere out in the universe, there could be a pair of people – separated by unknown things – who wanted nothing more than to give Celia a better life than they could offer. She chose to believe that was the case because Celia had too much fight in her, too much love and compassion, to have come from heartless people who abandoned a child over simple inconvenience. She stood and then bent to kiss her forehead, feeling her arms wrap around her suddenly, holding her in place and when she pulled back, she could see the red around her eyes and the glistening tears in them.

"Mum," Celia whispered, before adding, "You already have."


	8. Chapter 8

They were at the console, in the middle of a conversation about where to get the best pies, when Clara's hand dropped to her stomach and she let out a quick laugh of surprise. The Doctor smiled, approaching her slowly and settling his palm beside hers to chuckle at the soft thumps there before they both looked to Celia. Frowning, the Doctor took a step towards her, seeing the ashen look on her face as she continued to stare down at the control panel she was gripping in front of her.

"Celia," he called, "Are you alright?"

She shook her head and then she looked up at him, blinking away the blurred vision and the thunder in her chest and she asked boldly, "Could we find my parents?"

The girl winced when she saw the words hit Clara like a slap to the face and the Doctor glanced back in time to see the woman turn away before moving to drop into a chair. He wrapped his hands as he looked to Celia to prompt, "Do you think finding them would help with what's ailing you?"

"I mean back when they first had me," Celia told him quietly.

He frowned and again, measured Clara's reaction because the statement brought with it the unspoken notion that if the girl wanted to go back in time to when her parents first had her, she might want to somehow alter the course of history to ensure they didn't give her up. Something that could wipe Celia from their timeline; something that could wipe a lot of things from their timeline, he knew, watching Clara's hand slowly making circles at the side of her belly.

The Doctor shook his head, "Playing with time, trying to re-write history…"

"I just want to see them with me; I want to know why…" Celia interrupted.

"It's too dangerous," he warned. "You meeting yourself at another point in your timeline. Could have wibbly wobbly effects."

Celia nodded slowly, "Wibbly…" she began, stumbling away from him as Clara hissed and the Doctor took a step towards the girl while turning to check on Clara, who simply raised a hand and muttered something about the kicking.

The baby had been kicking a lot lately. Enough for the Doctor to scan her regularly to make sure nothing was amiss, and nothing was. Strong, healthy, one human heart pounding away inside the small chest of their unborn daughter and nothing to worry about. He assured Clara time and time again – the girl would pass for human, she might not even regenerate, but she would be glorious.

Celia shook her head and the Doctor reached for the controls at his side, instantly scanning her and frowning because he found nothing wrong. Her pulse was slightly elevated, but other than that… just like his biological daughter, Celia was perfectly fine – except he could see on her face that she wasn't. He moved closer to her and caught her before she fell over, seeing her blink rapidly, as if to stave off a wave of dizziness, and he felt his own hearts thudding away as he looked up to find Clara approaching.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" She demanded, lifting a hand to check Celia's temperature and before they could stop her, she twisted out of the Doctor's grasp and ran from them.

"Celia!" Clara called as the Doctor rushed after her.

He found her popping a section of pipe off the wall; the same place they'd found her, and he raised his Sonic to test what she was doing, gasping as the ship shook slightly. "Celia, what you're doing – _how are you_… how do you even know…" he shook his head in disbelief, turning to Clara as she arrived at his side, "She's creating a portal. Essentially a rudimentary vortex manipulator," he looked to Celia, "Which is _incredibly dangerous_!"

"How does she even know how to do that?" Looking up, Celia smiled and Clara recognized something in that smile, the same something she always recognized in the girl's grins: the Doctor. Her mouth fell open slightly as her hand rounded her stomach and she watched Celia's small nod. "Don't," Clara shouted, but when she went to rush towards her, the Doctor stopped her.

"If she opens a rip in the fabric of time, it could pull in anything close by," he told her before turning his attention back to the girl now plucking wires and examining them, "Celia, you have to stop; you have to step away and stop and we can talk. Maybe we could find a way to see your parents…"

"Doctor," Clara stated, lips trembling as he raised a hand to stop her words.

Nodding to Celia, the Doctor smiled, "One of us could see them, could talk to them, but it would be too dangerous for you. If you got too close to your younger self; if you happened to touch your younger self, it would create a paradox and trust me, I've seen my fair share of paradoxes – I've caused too many myself – you can't be the one."

"I _have_ to go then," Celia declared, eyes still on the mess of cables in front of her.

The Doctor watched her, shaking his head, a small bit of understanding dawning on him as he looked between the girl who plucked at the innards of his Tardis knowingly, and the woman at his side watching with a surprised look on her face. "Celia," he stated plainly. "You wanted to know – that's what you wanted; _all of this time_."

She didn't answer; lips pressing together tightly as she blinked away tears and then seemed to settle on the right bit, smiling up at them with a small nod before she shrugged. Her mouth trembled as she held it shut and the Doctor took a step forward, raising a hand, an odd sense of déjà-vu tingling through his body.

"You wanted to know that we loved you," he laughed, then lowered his head to smile before calling, "Ellie, there's no force in the universe that could stop us from loving our daughter."

Nodding, a pained frown at hearing her father call her by her given name wrinkling her young face, she looked to him and she explained, "You loved me so much you gave me away; you gave us away."

The Doctor looked to Clara, seeing her eyes close against the words and knowing in her heart that what the girl said was the truth – a truth they'd discussed about _Celia_, and about the baby in Clara's womb. If she remained on the Tardis, she was going to be in constant danger. It was an unfortunate reality they knew they would have to make a decision about soon and they'd already talked about Clara remaining on Earth with the girls until they were older, something they both knew meant Clara and the Doctor chanced never seeing each other again.

_But for the safety of their daughter_…

"Please, _keep her_," Celia began before twisting a wire in front of her and, in a blink of lightning, she was gone, leaving the Doctor and Clara standing in the corridor in a whirlwind of confusion.


	9. Chapter 9

The console was quiet when Ellie stepped onto it, after having woken in her bed with a quick pulse and a hopeful heart. She watched the Doctor working at the levers, just as he had all of her life… the memories were there now and she smiled at them as they faded in and out, trying to push her old memories of children's homes and loneliness aside. She moved to stand a few feet from him, seeing the odd look of worry on his face as he refused to meet her eyes and she knew that look well: he was disappointed in her.

He gripped the edge of the console and told her quietly, "Before you left, you said _keep her_, she always thought you'd meant the baby; she thought you meant _you_ – but you didn't; you meant for me to keep Clara, didn't you?"

"Yes," she answered simply, quietly, fingers skimming over the controls of the Tardis as the Doctor approached her, shoulders slumped slightly and she knew he'd been mulling it over for a time – knew her mother was somewhere nearby trying to reconcile her own memories.

They all had a lifetime of new ones lined neatly overtop the crumpled mess of old ones.

Coming to a stop a few feet away, the Doctor began plainly, "Ellie, what you did – _rewriting history_ – you aborted an entire timeline with…"

"You do it all the time," she interrupted angrily, using her new memories in her favor, "Disregarding all of the rules of the universe if it's what you think is right."

"Is that what you were doing?" He asked roughly.

"You _and mum_," she trailed, the word almost too painful to say, before continuing boldly, "The three of us, we're supposed to be together; this life, these new memories I've got in my head… they're right, I know they're right."

He rubbed at his brow, watching his daughter clench her fists at her sides in a familiar way and he nodded, "Time travelers, we have an odd way of retaining our memories, Ellie – all of the memories from timelines that shouldn't have existed." He sighed, "Your mother remembers her death; she remembers the pain of our separation; she remembers the decision to give you up _to protect you_…"

"And I found you anyways," Ellie told him with a nod, chin trembling slightly, "I found you and she'd died and this life – this insanity you live – it took her from us, but I used it to fix that." She smiled, but he could see the sadness in her eyes, the memory of the moment he'd had to explain that her mother had passed on… saving his life years after she had stopped travelling with him. And how it had inspired her on this quest to change it all. Ellie inhaled deeply and she assured, "You're together now; you're fine now."

"For how long?" He shook his head, "I understand what you wanted, Ellie, I truly do – the want for family, to be surrounded by those you love for a lifetime of moments committed to memory, of encouragement and disappointment and the gamut of experiences and emotions that come with it, the good and the bad and everything in between that you were robbed of with us… I understand, but we can't bend the universe to our will." He took a step closer to posit, "What if our separation was what the universe wanted; what if her death had intended purposes?"

Ellie met his eyes with a fierceness he'd rarely seen in them; a fierceness he could recall from a memory a normal person wouldn't have anymore; from the day Clara left him, and it struck his hearts painfully to see it aimed at him from their daughter as she spat, "What if it wasn't? What if none of that was supposed to happen and I fixed it? I couldn't change it if it weren't meant to be changed." She looked away, a huff of breath escaping in a ragged puff. "Are you saying you'd rather be _without her_?" Ellie raised her head, "Are you saying you'd rather be _without me_?"

Leaning against the console, the Doctor let his head hang between his shoulders as he whimpered, "Sometimes what is right and what we want are two very different things; that's a lesson travelling with me will teach you time and time again."

After a moment of silence, Ellie approached him and asked delicately, "Is that why you let her go?"

He smiled up at her, "She chose to give you up to keep you safe from this world, this _insanity_, and that decision ate at her ever day. Giving her up was _my attempt_ to right a wrong. I had hoped she would find you; Clara could at least have had _you_," he raised a hand slightly, "But we hid you too well." There was a light chuckle, but Ellie could hear the anger in it as he glanced up at her and reached out to caress her cheek, a thumb gliding over it before he pulled her into his chest.

Ellie exhaled a sob, feeling his arms wrap around her, clutching at her as though he'd almost lost her and she realized – time traveler… he could differentiate between the two sets of memories and, at the moment, the new memories felt more like a dream. In short time they would become permanent and the life he'd lived without her and without Clara would drift to the back of his mind, but holding her there on the console, so soon after she'd returned… he truly was holding the daughter he'd lost.

The Clara he'd left in a room in the Tardis was the Clara he'd lost.

She felt his body trembling and Ellie listened as he cried, an occasional whimper escaping him as he stood frozen with her. Raising her hands, she landed them gently at his back and he sighed, dropping a kiss onto her head and after a moment, Ellie felt another set of cool fingers prying hers off the Doctor and as they separated, she closed her eyes, readying herself for the face she was about to peer into. One, she knew, that would have the wrinkles of thirteen and a half years with her, travelling with her family aboard the Tardis.

"Hey," Clara told her gently, urging her to open her eyes and Ellie found her hopeful face, eyes disappearing into a large grin as she pulled her into her arms and whispered, "You're everything in my mind and yet I miss you so much. Is that strange?"

With a light laugh against her shoulder, Ellie shook her head before lying it down as Clara rubbed her back, and she told her, "It can't be strange, I feel the same."

The Doctor clapped his hands together tightly and they smiled without glancing his way as he began to twirl around the console, working at the controls and calling out, "Well, now it's all a mess in mine – have we been to see Srulaiah? Daylight for twenty hours out of the day and spectacular sunsets, not to mention an indigenous population who make the best bread pudding you'll ever have."

Ellie and Clara separated slightly, still clinging to one another as they laughed up at the Doctor and Clara smiled to tell him, "No, I don't believe we've been to _bread pudding_ planet."

The hand at her back slipped off and Ellie was left standing at the edge of the console as Clara wedged herself into the Doctor's side, her arms coming up to grip at him and Ellie knew – she missed him as well. She watched them begin to banter, glancing at one another playfully, and despite the Doctor's initial worry over what she'd done and the eventual lecture she would get about tampering with the Tardis's internal structure and time in general, for the moment she was happy.

Because she was home.


End file.
